Hillsong: A Biblical Evaluation
My oldest daughter, Jess, took the time to do some research on this phenomenon known as “Hillsong” recently and I wanted to share here what she found out. When you find out what they believe, promote, and represent, we may want to reconsider using their music or anything else from their ministry in our homes and our churches. Here is what Jess found out–
Hillsong was founded by Brian and Bobbie Houston in 1983 and quickly exploded into a massive worldwide organization. Hillsong now has a church in nearly every major city of the world, with over 180,000 people attending globally each week and even more watching online. They also boast three record labels, an international college, a film and television platform, and multiple worldwide conferences. Their record labels have dominated the Christian music industry and over 50 million people around the world sing their songs in church every week.
šš”šš²āš«š šš šš„š¢ššš«š¢šš§. They ordain women pastors and many of their churches around the globe are pastored by women. Bobbie Houston co-pastors the main church in Sydney, Australia with her husband. She said in reference to the topic that āthe church needs to come of age sometimes and just grow up.ā (see 1 Timothy 2:11-14 & 3:1-7)
šš”šš² š©š«šØš¦šØšš šš”š š©š«šØš¬š©šš«š¢šš² š šØš¬š©šš„. Hillsong Church claims that God wants us happy, healthy and wealthy. āWe believe that God wants to heal and transform us so that we can live healthy and blessed lives in order to help others more effectivelyā is one of their statements of beliefs.
In 1999, Brian Houston wrote a book called āYou Need More Money.ā He asks an audience, āwhy would the Bible would say āLet the poor say I am richā if it wasnāt the will of God to break the poverty over peopleās lives?ā (by the way, that phrase isnāt found anywhere in the Bible) He urges people to dream big. He claims God wants an abundant life for us and that includes health, wealth, and great success in this life.
šš”šš² š”ššÆš š š°š«šØš§š šš”ššØš„šØš š² šØš šš”š šš”š®š«šš”. Houstonās vision for Hillsong includes one that dreams, that welcomes everyone, and that worships. āA church that loves God, loves people, and loves life. Youthful in Spirit, generous at heart, faith-filled in confession, loving in nature, and inclusive in expression.ā Thereās no mention of the Gospel, the preaching of Godās Word, or the true purpose of the church according to Scripture. The primary purpose of the Church is not to welcome unbelievers but to grow believers.
šš”šš² š„ššš¤ šš¢šš„š¢ššš„ š©š«šššš”š¢š§š . A BBC article reported that āthe messaging may at times attach to specific scripture but itās easily digestible, palatable, and is largely built on love, acceptance, and faith-led aspiration: be true to yourself, fight fear, never give up, believe in God.ā Another magazine reported that āhe [the pastor] expounds on the importance of having a relationship with Jesus, as opposed to following the dogmatic structures of organized religion- ideas that are key tenets of Hillsongās brand of Christianity.ā Watch a few clips online, and youāll soon see that these are good descriptions. Theyāre simply preaching the wisdom of the world wrapped up in a pretty package they call Christian.
šš”šš²āš«š ššš®š¦šš§š¢ššš„. Hillsong Church seeks to unify with all religions since they all worship the same Jesus. (hint: not the Jesus of the Bible) Brian Houston said āDo you know – take it all the way back to the Old Testament – and the Muslim and you, we actually serve the same God. Allah, to a Muslim; to us, Abba Father, God.ā He later claimed that his statement was taken out of context.
Hillsong United has performed at Catholic conferences. Hillsongās āNo Other Nameā conference invited a Catholic pastor to lead a break-out session to help the Catholics attending ātake the experience of Hillsong conference and interpret it into your Catholic world.ā Houston also released a statement about the Pope, saying āwe pray too that this papacy, like those before it, is marked by a commitment to seeing the Christian message continue to go forward and people changed by the power and truth of the Gospel,ā claiming that they share the common desire to exalt Christ. Excuse me? There is no Christian message or truth of the Gospel coming from the mouth of the Pope.
šš”šš² šš„šš¢š¦ šš”šš«š šš«š š¦šš§š² š°šš²š¬ ššØ ššØš. Carl Lentz, who was the lead pastor at the Hillsong Church in New York City (he since has been fired for adultery), was interviewed by Oprah in 2016. She asked him, ādo you think only Christians can be in a relationship with God?ā He replied āNo, I believe that when Jesus said that āI am the way, the truth, and the life,ā the way I read that, Jesus said that He is the road marker, He is the map, so I think that God loves people so much, that whether they accept or reject Him, Heās still gracious.ā This was his presentation of āthe gospelā to Oprah. Later, Bobbie Houston congratulated him and Oprah for the spirit-breathed and Jesus-centered interview, stating she would pray for the āOprah-haters, God-haters, and Hillsong-hatersā who expressed their concern over what he said.
šš”šš² š¢š š§šØš«š šš”š š©š«šØšš„šš¦ šØš š¬š¢š§. Brian Houston says theyāre a ācome as you are church.ā He claims that the Holy Spirit convicts, God judges, and he is simply called to love. He once said to his audience, āAnd you hear people say, you donāt preach enough about sin. You donāt preach enough about repentance. But you know what I actually think theyāre saying is, āYou donāt beat people up enough.ā Cause you know, you donāt have to tell people theyāre sinners. They already know.ā
Carl Lentz said āIf you go to a church and all they talk about is sin, then they arenāt talking about the whole gospel. Jesus to said to give the good news and thatās what weāre doing. The heart of the message is, wherever you are living, whatever you do for a living, itās valid.ā
Somehow they separate the idea of preaching about sin and condemnation from preaching about Godās love and grace. Theyāre inseparable. Thereās no Gospel without both of them.
šš”šš² š«ššš®š¬š ššØ šššš«šš¬š¬ šššØš«šš¢šØš§ šØš« š”šØš¦šØš¬šš±š®šš„š¢šš² šš¬ š¬š¢š§. Carl Lentz notably refused to call abortion sin during his interview on The View. Both Houston and Lentz are remarkably quiet on the topic of homosexuality. Lentz claims that Jesus never talked about the topic, so why would he?
šš”šš² šØšÆšš«šš¦š©š”šš¬š¢š³š šš§š šš¢š¬ššØš«š š°šØš«š¬š”š¢š©. It has been said that the worship part of their church services ārival any other contemporary form of entertainment.ā Lights, smoke, effects, jumping up and down. One magazine article stated that āyouād think itās a rock concert, but itās actually church.ā Itās the main part of their service. It’s me-centered worship. It makes people feel good. The music stirs up their emotions and gives them a false sensation of spirituality. But is it true worship or an abomination to the Lord? Does Hillsong care that true worship only comes out of heart that is pure before the Lord? Does it care that worship must be done in both spirit and in truth?
šš”šš² šš«š ššØšØ š©šØš©š®š„šš«. Too popular? Is that a bad thing? Yes. Because the Bible promises us that Godās Truth will never be loved by the world. The world will hate us. We will be the fragrance of death to those who are perishing and the fragrance of life to those who are being saved. (2 Corinthians 2:16) Hillsong Church is growing in leaps and bounds. Thousands of people attend. Positive stories about Hillsong have been featured by Vogue, CNN, The Today Show, Cosmopolitan, BBC and many others. Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Chris Pratt, Kourtney Kardashian, and Vanessa Hudgens are all celebrities that attend or have attended Hillsong Church. Wouldnāt you attend a church, as an unbeliever, that tells you can have both Jesus and the world? That Jesus wants you healthy, wealthy, and happy? A church thatās all about love and doesnāt talk about sin?
This so-called church isnāt preaching the Biblical Gospel or the true Jesus Christ. It isnāt a true church in any sense of the word. Theyāve created their own message, their own Jesus, and their own church out of the lusts of their flesh. And it truly is an abomination to our God. And itās THEIR songs that we sing in our churches every Sunday. Can those songs really glorify God if theyāre coming from a heretical church like Hillsong? My prayer is that this saves even a few people from getting ensnared in the lies of this church and everything with the name Hillsong attached to it.
(This was a very long post and I didnāt have the space to explain why each of these things is wrong Biblically. If you donāt understand why we canāt unite with Catholics, how we know the true purpose of the church, why the prosperity gospel isnāt Biblical, how we know homosexuality is a sin, etc. – feel free to message me or dig into the Word for yourself!)